Puget Sound Partnership

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Quite a bit ago, this website was previously an interesting page about Puget Sound Partnership, which is a community effort of citizens, governments, tribes, scientists, and businesses, all working together to restore, as well as helping you learn how to protect water quality, in Puget Sound.

Below

you will find out what all of this means…
Along with some fascinating links that will help you get a better understanding of Puget Sound Partnership.

What is Puget Sound?

‘Puget Sound’ was a vast and beautiful estuary – one of the largest in the United States. It is also a complex living ecosystem. On the surface, Puget Sound looks terrific, yet underneath there are alarming signals that the ecosystem is in trouble.

It was a must that they took action to prevent the irreversible decline of salmon, orcas, and the landscapes that support people and wildlife. Despite it’s size, Puget Sound is ecologically delicate, and while it’s symptoms of trouble are not easily visible, they are undeniable and getting worse.

What was their goal?

Their goal was to make Puget Sound strong and healthy again, and create a road-map for how to get it done. And if they worked together, they can have both a thriving Puget Sound economy and a clean and healthy Puget Sound ecosystem.

Yeah… That’s why it sounded so familiar. Didn’t you get an A+ on it or something?

You were always so good at writing stories.

Tell us one.

When I look back on my life, I realize that somewhere in my early childhood, I became completely mesmerized by nature. It was probably because I preferred nature to people, I had symptoms of social anxiety disorder. Both of my parents were outdoors type of people who loved to go hiking and camping, but at the same time, we lived in a big city, mainly thanks to their careers in the banking sector. Because of it, I grew up as any other city girl, with the small exception of going for a couple of weeks every year to the Rocky Mountains or some other wild and untamed part of the country. Once our vacation was over, we headed back to the concrete jungle and to our everyday routines. But, somehow, during those short but essential trips, I developed a huge respect for the natural ecosystem.

While we wandered between mighty trees, rivers, and meadows, I slowly began to understand that nature is not simply plants that grow from the soil, or water that runs through it. It is something more powerful, more ancient and more inclusive than any of its parts, including us humans.Nature is all of it; all of us, but realizing that demanded that I spent time inside of its ecosystems. As years went by, so did my inclination became more and more apparent. When the time came to choose a college and a future profession, I easily decided to go for biology. Naturally, I had no problems finishing it as one of the best students in my class.

This was the first big chapter of my life.

The second one came just a few months after I graduated, during a trip to the border region of the US and Canada. Here, on a lazy afternoon, I stumbled upon the Puget Sound area. As an inlet of the grand ocean to its west, this geographical phenomenon represents an estuarine system that connects many basins and waterways. It is also an impressive ecosystem that spread out inland for more than 100 miles. The entire setting is naturally bristling with wildlife and vegetation of every kind, which reminded me of all those moments I spent in the wonderful, unspoiled nature as a kid. When I heard about the Puget Sound Partnership and its willingness to protect water quality and other natural characteristics, I knew that I found my home.

I began working in the Partnership, which represents a state agency that works to protect the region and to protect water quality in the same area. As an organization that brings about many different local and federal partners for the same goal, but at the same time, it roles are diverse. First of all, it supports the development of a healthy population of humans in the area and a very vibrant and rich quality of life that does not harm the ecosystem. Then, it focuses on the sustaining the natural and native species in the area and protect and restore their habitat, both on land and in the waters. Finally, it works on providing the waters of the region with both quantity and quality needed to keep in a state of health and sustainability.

I was overjoyed with the place I found, but then, tragedy struck. My best friend from childhood was diagnosed with breast cancer. First, I thought about leaving Puget Sound and going back to my home city. But then, a new idea dawned on me. Instead of that, I brought my friend to Puget Sound. Here, I helped her begin a more balanced lifestyle with a lot of exercises and a healthy diet plan. First, when she came, she believed she would be staying there for only a couple of days. Fortunately, I was able to convince her to extend those days into weeks, and then into months. As I worked on the projects to protect water quality, I also made clear that I will be there for her no matter what it takes.

Now, several years later, she is cancer-free and living just a few houses from me, near one of the many Puget Sound inlets. I cannot be sure that this part of the country really helped in her recovery, but deep in my heart, I know that the wholeness of the nature that surrounds us definitely played its part in it. For that, I will be forever grateful to Puget Sound.